A conventional reformer exercise apparatus includes a wheeled platform carriage, which rides on a rectangular wooden or metal frame. The carriage is connected to a series of parallel elastic members, e.g. springs, which are in turn connected to a foot end of the rectangular frame. The carriage typically rides on parallel rails or tracks mounted to the longer side of the rectangular frame. This carriage has a flat, padded upper surface and typically includes a pair of spaced, padded, upright shoulder stops and a headrest at one end to support the shoulders and head of the user when the user is reclined on the carriage.
An adjustable foot bar, foot support, or foot rest against which the user places his/her feet is mounted at the foot end of the rectangular frame. A spring support rod is positioned across the foot end of the rectangular frame between the tracks and is held in place by a spring support bracket fastened to the frame. The rod typically fits in one of three or four pairs of upwardly open, slanted recesses or slots in the support bracket. Alternatively, the spring support rod may be permanently fastened to the foot end of the frame. The user can typically push against the foot rest to move the carriage along the track away from the foot rest against spring tension to exercise the leg and foot muscle groups of the user's body in accordance with prescribed movement routines.
The spring support rod is typically a cylindrical rod or tube with a circular cross-section. A series of hooks for securing ends of the elastic members or springs are attached in a line along the cylindrical spring support rod. The other ends of the springs are connected to the carriage.
The springs provide resistance for biasing the carriage toward the foot end of the frame. A user can vary the resistance provided by the springs in order, for example, to change the intensity level of the exercise by selecting different combinations of springs. The hooks on the spring support rod allows a user to easily vary the number of springs by providing an easy way to disconnect the springs from the rod and reconnect the springs to the rod received in the slots. The user may also vary the relaxed spring tension on the carriage by changing the pair of slots into which the spring support rod is mounted. The spring support rod, when mounted in the slots nearest the foot end of the frame, for example, provides the maximum relaxed spring resistance.
The circular cross-sectional profile of the spring support rod allows rotational movement of the rod in the slots when the springs are loosely or are not connected to the rod at all. The spring support rod resting in the slots typically rotates (due to gravity) to a position where the hooks are pointed downward when no tension is applied by the springs. This is inconvenient for the user, requiring the use of one of the user's hands to rotate the bar to align the hooks horizontally while the user places the end of the spring on the hook with the other hand.